Along the Natchez Trace

Monday, April 29, 2013

We are at a MOC Rally, and we are having a great time. Yosemite was great! We have had some wild experiences. We are traveling hard and this tourist job is exhausting and exhilarating We are playing hard and resting hard. The travel blogs will continue - - I promise - - just not sure when.

In the meantime - - Rally on!!

* We are still in California. In case you were wondering. Jackson California.
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We now have a neighbor. You can see there is not much room, pass the creamer please:

Full up for the weekend:

Slide JUST cleared all those utilities:

We had to move Jolly before this motorhome could pull out on Sunday morning. Officially, we are infringing on his lot. We did so on the back end too. Lots that are about 13 foot wide just do not fit a 22 foot long truck.

We actually could have gone back a few more inches:

Close parking! In a canyon. Not something we want to do everyday mind you, but, it was an experience embraced, laughed about, remembered.

Calico was a silver and borate mining town, founded in 1881. It reached it's height of silver production during 1883 and 1885, when it had over 500 mines and a population of 1,200 people. By 1890 the estimated population of the town was 3,500, but by 1900 it was nearly a ghost town and by 1907 the town had been totally abandoned.

At one time there were about 500 mines operating in and around Calico, you can see an "entrance" to one here. We saw several entrances close by the campground. Some of these entrances were boarded up, but, a few looked like you could go exploring, if you were brave (or silly) enough to try. Be sure to take TWO flashlights, in case one fails. That was the suggestion of a local resident. MMM, no thanks - - I am not that brave.

There is a mine/museum on the grounds (small entrance fee in addition to the fee charged to access the ghost town). Despite my usual reluctance to go into mines, somehow I decided this one would be ok. It looked dry, fairly well lit and tall enough that we could walk through without getting a cramp in our backs from walking bent over.

Inside there were a number of museum-like displays, about, of course, mining. The mannequins were all different, for some reason I found that quaint and interesting.

Back outside the mine, the old rusty stuff grabs my attention and that of Sony Too. Here, huge tires.

In the window of the pharmacy. I love old bottles. Not sure those cigars are fresh tho -

The local hardware store:

The mercantile, ok, I am not sure about those dresses hanging from the ceiling - -

In 1951 the town was purchased by Walter Knott and his wife Cordelia, founders of Knott's Berry Farm. They restored the town and in 1966, Knott donated the town to San Bernardino County. Calico is now a County Regional Park, with the campground and the town and the old cemetery. There are many shops, selling tourist items. There is a nice restaurant (food was pretty good). We spent a few hours there on Friday, before the weekend visitors/campers/tourists arrived so it was fairly quiet. We strolled through, peaking in the windows, chatting with the store merchants, passing the time.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Time to leave Death Valley, it has been some experience. The images will remain in our memories for many moons.

We will head back to Furnace Creek and leave the park, heading via Shoshone California to Calico California.

After just 3 days of limited amounts of vegetation of any kind, I was shocked to see, some kind of grass. (By the way, we did see quite a few wildflowers growing along side the roads when we left the park, just could not get any photos, there were no pulloffs or safe places to stop for photos.)

For lunch we stopped at Shoshone California, just a spot in the road, whose residents provide fuel (at well over $5.00 a gallon no matter what type of fuel), a bar/burger saloon, a grocery store/convenience store and a museum. I may have missed a business or two, but, you get the idea, blink while driving through and you will miss it. And, what a shame it would be to miss it, it has all that wonderfully hokey history stuff and old junk that I adore photographing! These photos, by the way , were done with the iPhone, I left Sony Too in Jolly, as I was busy with the fur kids. It was too hot to leave them in Jolly, so, they got to go into the courtyard of the saloon and rest in the shade while Man and I had lunch!

Nice flowers in the flower bed next to the building, my view during lunch. Not too hard to take, eh?

Over in front of the museum, oooo, old rusty stuff, love love love, the filing station pumps!

The car from another point of view, OK, the artist in me loves this. Per the signage, it is a 1937 Chevrolet.

This museum had the most interesting collection of rock and explanations of when it was formed, great stuff. I did not take the time to photo it all, really should have, it was very well done!

I cannot resist taking photos of the unique land forms. So many miles, so many delights!

I look out that side view mirror a lot during the day, the view can be awesome!

Vast, I say it over and over again, vast! Miles and miles of, pretty much, nothing. Gives me the creeps thinking of breaking down out in this vastness, with NO cell service!

Center of the photo, more road miles to travel before we reach our destination today.

Our home for the next few nights, Calico California.

Yep, a ghost town. Calico is now a county park/campground.

Parts of the campground are IN a canyon.

Close up of some campsites for tents, etc. No water here, and this is across the street from Tana's campsite.

Close parking, and, I do mean, CLOSE!!! Those yellow painted cement poles are the markers of the sides of your campsite. These campsites can not be much more than 13 foot wide. Tana is 12 foot wide when the slides are open and we took up ALL of our campsite, except maybe a few inches on either side. Jolly is 22 foot long, bumper to bumper, we could not park Jolly cross wise without extending into our neighbor's campsites. Everyone knew how it was, we parked Jolly cross wise for part of the weekend.

Here is the entrance side. I was careful when opening the door, it was rather close to another one of those yellow concrete poles. I knew it would not hit, that said, I felt it wise to be careful. Besides, I might be the one running INTO that pole, not the door.

Man and I had to work hard to get Tana into this parking spot. I have some additional photos of the close parking I will share with you another time. My desk window looked right at a canyon wall. The wall was only feet from the window, sorta a "reach out and touch me" sorta thing!

The weekend filled up the campground, we guided a large Motorhome into the site next to us with iPhone lights at night. Turn your iPhone on, keep it on, it puts out some great light, if you wiggle it, it sends off a flicker of light that can be seen in rear view mirrors. When someone is 4 or 5 inches from us as they are backing in, I will flicker that iPhone a lot! LOL

It was our first experience camping in a canyon, and so, we embraced the experience and had some fun with it.

We will visit the ghost town and Peggy Sue's Diner while we are here. On Sunday, we will wait for all the other rigs to leave so we can hook up and depart ourselves. Yep, it was close, and it was an experience! Not sorry for the experience. Not one bit!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

For my non-RVing friends, family and followers, I thought I would share with you what a bit of "moving" day is like for Tana and her occupants.

Moving day for our gang requires a bit of stashing and packemup. I travel with plants, dogs, research, crafts and tons of computer gear. After years of traveling we have our own set of rules that we live by. Nothing left on counter tops (I have friends that do so and report all rides well, I am constantly amazed by that!)

So, before we can put the slide rooms in for travel, I move stuff around a bit. The plants go on the bed in the front of the rig, in plastic boxes (in case they leak), and yes, there is one cardboard box with 2 plants in it up there too (I don't water them before I box em up, eh?)

Two television/monitors travel on the pillows, screen side down. And, Man has his computer on the bed as well. Jackets usually hang from a hook are tossed on the end of the bed for travel if they are not needed to keep us warm while traveling.

Here is what that same bed looks like when the slides are in travel mode. The bed touches the dresser drawers. Because this area is partially over the truck, it is quite stable. We have found a drawer open now and then, but, so far, knock on my wooden head, nothing has moved on the bed.

In the back of Tana, where the front room, kitchen, "office" and dining table are, the futon becomes the depository. There are oodles of pillows, 2 dog crates, two small wooden tables (only one is visible, those pillows are hiding a lot! LOL), a toaster oven, dog pillow with the top of the Ott light resting carefully in it (not visible in this photo), a wicker basket filled with, well, stuff and miscellaneous items. You can see that I put stuff down the holes created by putting the wooden tables on their sides, yes, that is a keyboard you see there on the left side of the photo. On the rare occasion I will find one of the pillows on the floor, but, for the most part nothing on the futon moves either. Hip Hip Hooray!

I am standing in about the middle of the back of the rig. The living room/dining room slide is now in, the futon is close to the kitchen slide (which is also in). The kitchen slide holds the refrigerator, stove, microwave, television, cabinets and pantry. With the slides in, there is enough room for me to walk to the frig and open it, well, just barely. But, I can do so. Seems Cappy does real well tho, as he waits for me on the chair.

Now I have turned around am am looking at Tana's back end. You can see my kitchen table (err, the extension of my office), the kitchen peninsula, the fridge and beyond the stove top and microwave. My desk cannot be seen in this photo, the side of the slide totally blocks it from your view. There is no way you are going to get to the kitchen sink either with the slides in for travel. The iPad awaits, I will carry it out to Jolly and use it heavily all day during travel, it is my connection to all things net and my fav GPS program is on there, have maps, will travel!

And, THAT is how we roll.

You can see Tana in the "living" mode in a post I did back in December of 2010. The look morfs now and then, but, it is still basically the same. The many links on that post lead to other pages I have online showing Tana in the early days and some of the improvements Man has made.

And, here, I showed off the good, the bad, the real and the ugly of more living in Tana and how I manage my office.

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All photos on this blog are those taken by Man or Moi, unless otherwise noted. Documents are either from some great genealogy site or are scans of originals I have turned up in my years of research. Other images should be accompanied by some kind of source data.

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About Me

Things I love: Family, Grandchildren, Rving, computers (sometimes, but not when they are being bad), family history, yorkies, techy toys like my iToys, photography.
I am all of these, so I write about them all, and more.

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Several family members and friends fighting pain.

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Which Am I?

Am I a genealogist or a family historian?

Well, both of course, how can you be one without the other?

A family historian depends on the genealogist to supply the facts.

A genealogist depends on the family historian to tell the stories.

Genealogist, family historian, I am one in the same.

The New Ride, JGGBB4, Jolly Green Giant Big Butt 4.

Favorite sayings

" Living on Earth isn't cheap, but it does include a yearly free trip around the sun." (Source unknown.)

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

"The only difference between a rut and a grave...is the depth."

Chinese proverb: "To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root."

"I sure wish they sold memory sticks for humans...I could use an upgrade."

"Don't let procrastination be your primary time management skill."

"If you are normal....no one will listen, If you're deranged....they will make you their leader."

"You're just jealous that the voices are talking to ME!"

"I'm quite sure that no friendship yields its true pleasure and nobility of nature without frequent communication, sympathy and service." (From George E. Woodberry)

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand." (From Henri Nouwen)

"Don't go where the road leads, rather go where there is no road and make a trail."

"Broken hearts are what give us strength, understanding and compassion."